The Adventures of Little Dog Koko

Summary

While reading it, I kept thinking, “This is Home Alone for dogs!” There’s plenty of action and adventure, some very funny scenes, and I love the justice that prevails at the end. Five stars!”

For the first three years of his life, Koko, a small breed of dog called a Shih Tzu, lived with a little old lady he called Mama. One day Mama became very sick and was taken to the hospital. She left a large sum of money to her great nephew, Stewart, to take care of Koko if something should happen to her. But when she passed away, Stewart abandoned Koko in a park.

This is the story of how Koko was suddenly forced to tackle life on his own -- with no food, water, or shelter. He met lots of dangers along the way, like mean dogs, vicious coyotes, scary dogcatchers, and even life-threatening injuries. Sometimes Koko made friends, but, as time went by, it began to look like nobody would ever give him a good home..

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Published in the United States by BQB Publishing

(Boutique of Quality Books)

www.bqbpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-937084-00-4 (p)

ISBN 978-1-937084-07-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011927405

Book design by Darlene Swanson • www.van-garde.com

Cover illustration by Rob Peters • www.rob-peters.com

Interior illustrations by Steve McGinnis • www.digraphics.info

Also by J.R. Hardin

The Kudzu Monster Trilogy

Contents

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank the following people:

Betty Hertenstein, my sister, for editing my book and the contributions she’s made to my story;

Darlene Swanson, my book designer, for the excellent job she has done;

Rob Peters for creating the book cover art;

Steve McGinnis for creating the artwork inside the book;

And Lisa Schindler for her contributions in editing the book and working with the cover design.

Introduction

Although most of this story is fiction, some of it is based on true events. The inspiration for this book is my little dog Koko. He still lives with me, although he’s a lot older than he was at the time my wife and I adopted him from an animal shelter. When we first saw him, he was very thin, his teeth were yellow, and he was blind in his left eye. I don’t know how long Koko had survived on the streets, but it was obvious no one had taken care of him for a long time when he was captured.

We took him home and a few days later, my wife walked by Koko with a coat hanger in her hand. He saw the coat hanger, fell over on his back, and crawled under the bed. This was our first indication that he had been treated badly by someone in his earlier life. Today, he’s no longer afraid of coat hangers. Koko is a happy and well-loved companion.

Moochee is based on my son’s dog, Mushu. He has been Koko’s buddy for many years now. Some of the other dogs in my story are dogs I had in my past.

I hope you enjoy Koko’s story.

–J.R. Hardin

Chapter One

Animal Shelter

Koko woke from his nap, stretched and yawned. He walked over to the bowl of food on the concrete floor of the large cage. One of the three young poodles also in the cage started to growl. Koko turned and fixed an eye on him. The poodle stopped growling and curled up next to his brothers.

Koko ate a few bites of the food and returned to his corner in the back of the cage. He’d been here for over two months. At least he had medical treatment in the animal shelter. The vet had doctored his eye that had been put out in a fight with a dog five times his size.

Koko was a little dog, a Shih-Tzu. The breed originated in China where they were companions to the Empress and her favored ones. These pampered dogs were greatly valued. They were fed only the best foods and their long hair was combed every day. With his hair cut short, Koko looked like a puppy even though he was around five years old. I don’t feel very royal right now, he thought.

Curled up in a ball at the back of the cage, Koko waited for the visitors to come. People came every day to view the dogs in their cages. Koko remembered when he had a good home with a little old lady that he called Mama. She was nice. Mama would pet him and kiss him on the head. He had furry toys that she would throw for him to chase. Koko would run after them and when he grabbed them in his mouth, they made a squeaking noise. The first time he heard that sound, he dropped the toy. He thought he’d hurt it, but he hadn’t; the toys just liked to squeal when he carried them.

Koko always had good food and fresh water when he lived with Mama. A young lady came to Mama’s house and took him for walks three times a day. He really liked his walks with her.

He didn’t like walks with Stewart, Mama’s great nephew. He was mean to Koko. He jerked on his leash and poked Koko with his foot. When Stewart wanted some money from Mama, she made him